Peschiera del Garda ; lovely town once occupied first by the Romans then Austrians in the 17th century

Restaurant : Raffilu at C House 

Peschiera del Garda town

Piazza Ferdinando di Savoia 5

37019 Pescheira del Garda

VR Italy 

                 Fabulous Dinner only the 2 of us at the waterside ; Surreal feeling 

5 * dining 

One of the serendipitous experiences of our Italian trip in Dec 2023 was visiting the small town of Peschiera del Garda which literally means Peschiera by Garda lake. It is a pretty 10,000 inhabitant Garda lakeside town which can be accessible off the main train lines between Como and Verona, about 1.5 hours from Venice.

15 minutes by train due West from Verona and about 1 hour due East from lake Como

It is along the same latitude as Lake Como and since it is not so well known, the prices of everything ranging from food, tour guide services and accomodation are easily 30% or more cheaper than what one would pay for a major tourist destination such as Milan or Venice.

We stayed at the service apartments called C Rooms Lake House along the pier.The scenery is picture postcard perfect. Antonella, our tour guide gave us a good overview over 2.5 hours walking tour of the town and the history goes a bit like this :

Peschiera is a small town which was originally run by prominent Italian family - like most towns and cities. Romans then occupied it followed by the Venetiens in the late 16th -17th century. There was a period when the Austrians ruled the town and created a moat around it to protect it from invaders.The French led by the indominatble Napoleon Bonaparte conquered it around mid 1840s. 

The French were overthrown when the Italian Repulblic was formed in 1861.  

We walked through the barracks, as well as the armoury and the small museum, and ended up at the tourist information in the centre of the town. There are cruise ships plying Lake Garda most times from late Spring till Autumn each year and they are moored at the big port at the top end of the town. 

    

By the waterside at night 

                                        View of the small pier from our room 

Raffilu at C House 

The dinner we had (see video at top) was splendid. For a fraction of the price we paid for the 2 star dinner (about EUR 550) at  Seta Milan, we had for EUR 90 the time of our lives.The dishes we had till our hearts content :

- Seafood platter for sharing (pastrami done with some fish)

- Al dente Bigoli (larger form of spaghetti) 

- Octopus and cream. 

- a glass of Sauvignon Blanc 

There was a portrait of President Obama, who apparently made a visit here way back in 2017.

A lovely gem of a town, so full of beauty and warm people. 

Accelerated Aging ; Why it is So Important for Quality Enhancement of your Biomedical Product - QRA's 2 Labs are Solely Focussed for the Industry

      QRA Lab 1 is equipped to run 24 hours 7 days a week for months and even years 

             22 Years Providing Top Quality Equipment and Services Internationally 

         Contact Us for your Accelerated Aging Needs and Develop World Class  

                                          Products  for your Brand Today !

Every medical device is required by law to be labelled with an expiration date. The key question to every consumer is this. What exactly is an "expiration date" ? Is the performance of the device guaranteed  to be the same up until that magical date and then falls off dramatically after that ?

How do the manufacturers 'know; that the devices or products can really last that long ?

Thats where the decades long studies and the international standards have been put forth out in the market by top standards bodies such as ASTM (ASTM F 1980 - 21) and ISO (ISO 11607-1) for the US and European markets - the 2 largest consumer markets in the world for such products.

Testing your products and accelerating the aging of your products lends you credibility when you have the product rubber stamped on the box.

The test strategy for any biomedical or pharmaceutical company wanting to attain permission from  the FDA or the European market is to perform these aging tests by either : 

a) procuring accelerated aging chambers 

b) outsourcing these aging tests 

and conducting these tests.

For many biomedical devices that are manufactured from metals and robust plastics, the evaluation time for a product's shelf life  can be significantly shortened by aging the materials at elevated temperatures (as high as 70 C can be set).

Other products, such as biologic materials or products made of thermally sensitive materials, require a more thorough aging study design with environmental chambers relevant to more unique product requirements. 

Choose QRA International - the only Lab in Asia DEDICATED to 

ASTM F 1980 - 21   (for application for FDA approval to sell in USA market)

and ISO 11607 - 1   (for application to sell in the EU market) 

1. Establish product shelf life under both accelerated and real time conditions.QRA offers both test conditions at our 2 State of the Art Laboratories in Singapore and we are exploring setting up new Labs in Australia and USA. 

      An example : 

     Accelerated Aging in Chamber                              Real Life Test in Chamber

    55 C 50%    -  4.5 months         Equivalent to :          25 C 50% - 36 months (3 years)

2. Meet regulatory requirements following the ISO 11607 - 1 and ASTM F 1980 or any custom testing protocol needed to establish your products expiration date.

3. Start, Monthly, Weekly and End Test Reports backed by ISO 9001 : 15 traceability sent to you by email.

4. Additionally, QRA International provides comprehensive post tests, such as Peel and Bubble Tests to determine Sterile Barrier Hermiticity and package integrity

QRA also sells these shelf life testing chambers under our QRA brand. 

For more information, contact :

Tel :(65) 6795 1486

www.qra.com.sg

Email : 1. qrasales@qra.com.sg

            2. mark@qra.com.sg

There is never a better time to improve your products branding. 

Talk to the experts today. 

QRA International 

Make Better Great

Solar Chamber for Human Testing in Ultimate Weather Conditions. QRA's Sunlight Simulation Chamber for Peak Performance

 

Human Performance Chamber for 4 athletes with Solar Lamps - First in Asia

QRA International is the first company in Asia to provide for the largest Human Performance Chambers for athletes, soldiers and elite gym goers.

With its experience of over 21 years in the industry, QRA International has some 200 installations in Asia, Australia and Middle East. We are glad to provide top quality chambers to customers ranging for hospitals, military research institutions, universities and sports institutions.

The chamber in the picture is designed for simulating the hot and humid environment of the tropical jungles. The research done is for the prevention of heatstroke so the full solar spectrum is provided by the solar lamps (4) directly above the treadmills.

The environmental controlled conditions for the chamber are :

Temp       : - 20 C to + 50 C

Humidity :  10 to 95% rH

Wind        :  0 to 15 m/s wind speed%

Solar        : Full solar spectrum according to Arizona Sunlight standards

CO2         :  within 2000 ppm for 1 hour of extensive use by 4 persons inside chamber

The chamber provided by QRA International was installed and commissioned in 2015, so it is working perfectly well for close to 10 years.

QRA provides the full service package to all clients in a timely manner. We are ISO 9001 : 2015 certified and will be aiming to achieve the ISO 17025 certification within a year.

         O2 Control to 9000 m altitude Temperature Humidity and Wind Speed Control 

    

   

    QRA International Pte Ltd provides the following for you :

1. Complete Consultation, Quotation, Installation 4 Months (min) upon PO and up to 5        years warranty on equipment a6nd labour. 

2. Full technical consultancy with advice to latest standards and compliance.

3. Testing Services  - ASTM F 1980 - 21 ISO 11607 and D 4169

4. Rental of Equipment - from 1 month and longer

5. Preventive Maintenance and Calibration of your equipment

6. Upgrade and Repair of your equipment.

   

    Interested ?  Speak with the experts  Now !

   Call : (65) 6795 1486

   Email :     mark@qra.com.sg

   Website : www.qra.com.sg 

   We will be most happy to provide consultation to your technical people at the time         

   convenient to you.

Cousin Jacintha's Solo Performance - 29th March 2024 - Inter Continental Singaopore

 

With cousins Dr Rose, her hubby Prof Satku, Ms. Noor Quek, yours truly and Jacintha

29th March 2024.It was a very special evening of Jazz. The lobby lounge of the InterContinental was booked from 8 till 10.30 pm for a virtuoso performance by my cousin Jacintha. The place was packed and there were about 50 people in attendance.

She has a super smooth vocal range and her music, backed by an excellent 3 piece band, was in top form.

She sang favourites from her album Here's to Ben and Autumn Leaves. I had my request for Summertime which was done superbly and it really made my day.

Ja, you are one awesome and super talented lady and I feel so privileged to watch you perform in person.

The audience was awe struck by the perfection of the songs sung by you and the ambience was truly exceptional.  

A wonderful memorable evening. 

Carpe Diem 

Physical Versatility ; Cross Training is so important

 

Last Sunday's karate training emphasises the athlete's desire to cross train. This way the different sets of muscles are stressed and given a workout way beyond what ordinary long distance running can achieve. 

That and fact that the interplay between the muscles and bones structure help my body to maintain its flexibility and strength means that I will be pracitising and participating in karate sessions for the forseeable future.

My first visit to London and Europe in June 1974

 

By Tower Bridge circa June 1974 

I was fortunate to be given the tremendous opportunity to go to Greece and London when my father took me for 2 weeks (if I recall correctly) in the school holidays period of June 1974. That is 50 years ago !

This is a picture of pudgy me in front of Tower Bridge in a red sweater and Nana Mousskouri glasses. I had and still have bad myopia and have been short-sighted since I was 9 years old.

My memories of my first trip to London was that  the climate was cold (maybe high teens) and dry so much so that my lips cracked after a few days upon arrival.

 

ISO 9001 : 2015 Certification for QRA International

QRA International has recently been awarded the ISO 9001 : 2015 for the 3rd time in its history. This achievement has been due to the hard and consistent efforts of the small but reliable and hard working team of people who put their energies, commitment to quality and a resilience to failure time and again to strive for the best Quality Experience to it customers.

We have never compromised on providing quality as well as taking ownership to problems which will surface from time to time when the equipments we provide, the service we offer and the proposals we submit experience issues.

For issues make us resilient and strong. We have and will always overcome any setbacks when we choose to tackle these projects,

QRA provides the following products and services to Biomedical, Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing industries : 

1. Accelerated aging and Shelf Life Testing - ASTM F 1980 -21 and ISO 11607

2. Environmental Simulation (QRA) and Volatile Organic Compound Chambers 

3. Repair Services of all brands of test chambers

4. Calibration Services

5. Athletic Chambers for Athletes and Rehabilitation

We will strive for ever improving sales and profits through focussing on our core values which are :

1. Integrity in conducting our business

2. Diligence in attending to customer's needs

3.Trust that we will never disclose client's information.

4.Compassion to help the less privileged (we have a social responsibility focus too).   

Let us all sit back and reflect on our journey to greater heights in the years to come ! 

Choose QRA for all your testing and QA requirements 

Website : www.qra.com.sg

Email     : qrasales@qra.com.sg

                mark@qra.com.sg